Early Years
Every child deserves the best possible start in life and the support that enables them to fulfil their potential. Children develop quickly in the early years and a child’s experiences have a major impact on their future life chances. There are four principles which underpin our Early Years and Foundation Stage (EYFS) Curriculum:
- A unique child – every child is a competent learner from birth who can be resilient, capable, confident and self-assured.
- Positive relationships - so that children feel safe and cared for.
- Enabling environment – we provide a rich and varied environment which supports children’s learning and development. It gives them the confidence to explore and learn in a secure and safe, yet challenging, indoor and outdoor space.
- Learning and developing – children develop and learn in different ways and at different rates. In their play, children learn at their highest levels. We provide wide ranging and varied interests that engage and involve children for sustained periods.
Areas covered in our EYFS Curriculum include the following:
- Communication and Language
- Physical Development
- Personal, Social and Emotional Development
- Literacy
- Mathematics
- Understanding the World
- Expressive Arts and Design
Communication and Language
The development of children’s spoken language underpins all seven areas of learning and development. Children’s back-and-forth interactions from an early age form the foundations for language and cognitive development. The number and quality of the conversations they have with adults and peers throughout the day in a language-rich environment is crucial. By commenting on what children are interested in or doing, and echoing back what they say with new vocabulary added, practitioners will build children's language effectively. Reading frequently to children, and engaging them actively in stories, non-fiction, rhymes and poems, and then providing them with extensive opportunities to use and embed new words in a range of contexts, will give children the opportunity to thrive. Through conversation, story-telling and role play, where children share their ideas with support and modelling from their teacher, and sensitive questioning that invites them to elaborate, children become comfortable using a rich range of vocabulary and language structures.
Physical Development
Physical activity is vital in children’s all-round development, enabling them to pursue happy, healthy and active lives7. Gross and fine motor experiences develop incrementally throughout early childhood, starting with sensory explorations and the development of a child’s strength, co-ordination and positional awareness through tummy time, crawling and play movement with both objects and adults. By creating games and providing opportunities for play both indoors and outdoors, adults can support children to develop their core strength, stability, balance, spatial awareness, co-ordination and agility. Gross motor skills provide the foundation for developing healthy bodies and social and emotional well-being. Fine motor control and precision helps with hand-eye co-ordination, which is later linked to early literacy. Repeated and varied opportunities to explore and play with small world activities, puzzles, arts and crafts and the practice of using small tools, with feedback and support from adults, allow children to develop proficiency, control and confidence.
Personal, Social and Emotional Development
Children’s personal, social and emotional development (PSED) is crucial for children to lead healthy and happy lives, and is fundamental to their cognitive development. Underpinning their personal development are the important attachments that shape their social world. Strong, warm and supportive 9 relationships with adults enable children to learn how to understand their own feelings and those of others. Children should be supported to manage emotions, develop a positive sense of self, set themselves simple goals, have confidence in their own abilities, to persist and wait for what they want and direct attention as necessary. Through adult modelling and guidance, they will learn how to look after their bodies, including healthy eating, and manage personal needs independently. Through supported interaction with other children, they learn how to make good friendships, co-operate and resolve conflicts peaceably. These attributes will provide a secure platform from which children can achieve at school and in later life.
Literacy
It is crucial for children to develop a life-long love of reading. Reading consists of two dimensions: language comprehension and word reading. Language comprehension (necessary for both reading and writing) starts from birth. It only develops when adults talk with children about the world around them and the books (stories and non-fiction) they read with them, and enjoy rhymes, poems and songs together. Skilled word reading, taught later, involves both the speedy working out of the pronunciation of unfamiliar printed words (decoding) and the speedy recognition of familiar printed words. Writing involves transcription (spelling and handwriting) and composition (articulating ideas and structuring them in speech, before writing).
Mathematics
Developing a strong grounding in number is essential so that all children develop the necessary building blocks to excel mathematically. Children should be able to count confidently, develop a deep understanding of the numbers to 10, the relationships between them and the patterns within those numbers. By providing frequent and varied opportunities to build and apply this understanding - such as using manipulatives, including small pebbles and tens frames for organising counting - children will develop a secure base of knowledge and vocabulary from which mastery of mathematics is built. In addition, it is important that the curriculum includes rich opportunities for children to develop their spatial reasoning skills across all areas of mathematics including shape, space and measures. It is important that children develop positive attitudes and interests in mathematics, look for patterns and relationships, spot connections, ‘have a go’, talk to adults and peers about what they notice and not be afraid to make mistakes.
Understanding the World
Understanding the world involves guiding children to make sense of their physical world and their community. The frequency and range of children’s personal experiences increases their knowledge and sense of the world around them – from visiting parks, libraries and museums to meeting important members of society such as police officers, nurses and firefighters. In addition, listening to a broad selection of stories, non-fiction, rhymes and poems will foster their understanding of our culturally, socially, technologically and ecologically diverse world. As well as building important knowledge, this extends their familiarity with words that support understanding across domains. Enriching and widening children’s vocabulary will support later reading comprehension.
Expressive Arts and Design
The development of children’s artistic and cultural awareness supports their imagination and creativity. It is important that children have regular opportunities to engage with the arts, enabling them to explore and play with a wide range of media and materials. The quality and variety of what children see, hear and participate in is crucial for developing their understanding, self-expression, vocabulary and ability to communicate through the arts. The frequency, repetition and depth of their experiences are fundamental to their progress in interpreting and appreciating what they hear, respond to and observe.
Topics covered in our EYFS Curriculum include the following:
- Marvellous Me
- Food
- Books
- Growing
- Our World
- Summer
Explore our curriculum
Little Wizards (2 years)
Throughout the Little Wizards year we focus on the 3 prime areas of the Early Years Foundation Stage, which support your child’s Personal, Social and Emotional Development, Communication and Language and Physical Development to give your child the best opportunities to grow and flourish at the start of their educational journey.
We have a bright and stimulating learning environment, where your child can learn thorough their play, both indoors and outdoors. In school we also provide support for children and families with interventions such as WELLCOMM and REAL.
Over the year we select high topics that we know children will gain a high quality education from learning about:
- Who am I?
- Let’s Celebrate With Food
- Nursery Rhymes
- In My Garden
- Where do I live?
- At the Beach
Below is our Little Wizards long term plan which details exactly what the children will be learning throughout the year.
Long Term Planning Little Wizards |
||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Term |
Autumn 1 |
Autumn 2 |
Spring 1 |
Spring 2 |
Summer 1 |
Summer 2 |
Topic Theme |
Marvellous Me |
Food |
Books |
Growth |
Our World |
Summer |
|
Who am I? |
Let’s Celebrate With Food |
Nursery Rhymes |
In My Garden |
Where do I live? |
At the Beach |
Visitors/trips & Parental involvement |
Visit to school. |
REAL parent event- It’s Christmas time.
|
REAL parent event – Nursery Rhymes |
Creepy Crawly Roadshow.
Just Bee, Bee talk.
Tadpoles/Caterpillars
Visit to the park. |
A walk around the community. |
REAL parent event – Life’s a Beach.
|
Topics |
Who am I? What do I look like? What can I do?
|
Celebrations with Food. Bonfire Night Diwali Birthdays Christmas
|
Winter Our favourite Nursery Rhymes Time to Perform |
Life in the Garden Planting and Growing Bugs life Spring
|
Farm animals Life on the farm Houses and Homes Our Community
|
The seashore Splish and Splash Sandy Animals |
Home Activity |
Autumn walk bag.
|
Can you make a Christmas decoration for our school tree?
Playdough recipe |
Make/decorate a musical instrument. |
Growing a Sunflower. |
What can we see in our local community? |
Am I ready for nursery?
|
Specific Texts |
Where’s Spot |
How to brush your teeth with snappy crocodile |
This bear that bear |
Jaspers Beanstalk |
Hairy Maclary |
The Train Ride |
Nursery (3-4 years)
Throughout the Nursery year we focus on the 3 prime areas of the Early Years Foundation Stage, which support your child’s Personal, Social and Emotional Development, Communication and Language and Physical Development to give your child the best opportunities to grow and flourish at the start of their educational journey.
Over the year we select high topics that we know children will gain a high quality education from learning about. The nursery topics include:
- Me and my body.
- Food Glorious Food
- Traditional Tales
- Growing Outdoors
- Animals Past and Present of our world
- Transport and Holidays
Below is our Nursery long term plan which details exactly what the children will be learning throughout the year.
Long Term Planning Nursery |
||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Term |
Autumn 1 |
Autumn 2 |
Spring 1 |
Spring 2 |
Summer 1 |
Summer 2 |
Topic Theme |
Marvellous Me |
Food |
Books |
Growth |
Our World |
Summer |
|
Me and my body. |
Food Glorious Food |
Traditional Tales |
Growing Outdoors |
Animals Past and Present of our world |
Transport and Holidays |
Visitors/trips & Parental involvement |
Exploration of Immersive room. |
REAL parent event- Nursery Rhyme Week
|
Interactive Story Teller.
Story read by another teacher.
|
Creepy Crawly Roadshow.
Caterpillars
Nature Walk in the community. |
REAL parent event – Animal Fair |
Trip to the seaside Or a ride on a train. |
Topics |
Who is in our family? What do our bodies do? My 5 Senses My house
|
Different Types of Food Fruits Vegetables My favourite food Autumn
|
Winter Our favourite tales. Goldilocks 3 little pigs Red riding hood
|
Spring What can we grow Lifecycle of a butterfly Hungry caterpillar Mad about Minibeasts
|
Zoo Life Pets Let’s go Wild Dinosaurs
|
Different type of holidays Transport in the past Holidays back in time Fun in the Sun |
Home Activity |
Autumn walk bag
|
Making Soup
|
Make your own storybook. |
Growing fruits and vegetables. |
Making an animal mask or setting up a zoo. |
Ready set go to Reception.
|
Specific Texts |
All Kinds of People |
Supertato |
Each Peach Pair Plum |
Hungry Caterpillar |
Dear Zoo |
Naughty Bus |
Reception
Prime areas of learning:
- Communication and Language (Listening, attention and understanding; and Speaking)
- Personal, Social and Emotional Development (Self-regulation, Managing Self and Building Relationships)
- Physical Development (Gross motor skills and fine motor skills)
Specific areas of learning:
- Literacy (Comprehension, Word reading and Writing)
- Maths (Number and Numerical patterns)
- Understanding of the World (Past and present; People, culture and communities and The natural world)
- Expressive Arts and Design (Creating with materials and Being imaginative and expressive)
Over the year we select high topics that we know children will gain a high quality education from learning about. The Reception topics include:
- My Life
- Farm to Fork
- Twisted Tales
- Growth and Change
- To infinity and beyond
- Life at Sea
Below is our Reception long term plan which details exactly what the children will be learning throughout the year.
Long Term Planning Reception |
||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Term |
Autumn 1 |
Autumn 2 |
Spring 1 |
Spring 2 |
Summer 1 |
Summer 2 |
Topic Theme |
Marvellous Me |
Food |
Books |
Growth |
Our World |
Summer |
|
My Life |
Farm to Fork |
Twisted Tales |
Growth and Change |
To infinity and beyond |
Life at Sea |
Visitors/trips & Parental involvement |
Guided Reading Parent Event
Walk around the community |
Christmas Party
|
Interactive Story Teller.
Story read by another teacher.
|
Creepy Crawly Roadshow.
Tadpoles |
REAL parent event – Life in Space |
Trip to sea life centre |
Topics |
The community around us? Looking after our bodies. Are all families the same? Life without our senses. |
Where does food Come from? Life on the farm The supermarket Autumn |
What’s the difference? Hansel and Gretel Castle Life Gingerbread Man Mixed up fairytales. |
Lifecycle of a tadpole Agricultural growth Minibeasts around the world
|
Life in Space Our Solar System Aliens
|
Under the Sea Sea Jobs Pirates Saving our Planet |
Specific Texts |
The Large Family |
Farmer Duck |
The Jolly Postman |
Bog Baby |
Aliens Love Underpants |
The Rainbow Fish |
What to expect from the Early Years Foundation Stage
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